Many of you have taken some time to watch the Peaceful Life Workshop and get some clarity about your vision and values as a family. This is a great first step to homeschooling.
But along with knowing what is important to you, you have to know what is important to your children.
Many people write to me wondering how to get their children motivated to learn.
They have been in regular school and are used to simply following directions from teachers and can't come up with any interests or wonder on their own.
Children who have no interests of their own might be able to get passing grades, but when they leave your home, will they be prepared for life? Charlotte Mason said,
“The question is not, -- how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education -- but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”
With the Peaceful Press we aren't trying to simply educate children to pass tests, but rather, help them to have a full life. We want to help them to pursue connected and meaningful lives.
We incorporate time tested philosophy set forth by educators such as Charlotte Mason to inspire your students to learn, but if you want to really create a homeschool experience that creates connection and inspires your children you must take time to get to know them.
Instead of simply picking a grade level resource ask them some questions such as-
“If you could time travel where and when would you go?”
“What's your favorite movie or book?”
“What is one thing you would love to learn about?”
"What field trip or experience would you love to have this year?"
As you ask these thoughtful questions it will help you make wise curriculum choices. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on dry textbooks for a child who loves knights and dragons, you can use a resource like the Kind Kingdom and read the most engaging Middle Ages history stories.
Instead of purchasing a tedious online resource that your pioneer loving child will have to muscle through, you could grab The Playful Pioneers and sample several different pioneer crafts, refining math, science, and reading comprehension skills as you go.
You also need to keep in mind your child's developmental age.
Some children can repeat back several numbers in a list, ride a bike confidently, and hop and skip, indicating they are ready for a more literature rich resource like The Precious People.
However, for children who are still working on memory recall, balance, and physical coordination you might be better off using another year of The Peaceful Preschool or Nourishing Nature Kindergarten.
These resources include important motor skills activities that will help your child develop the skills they need for tracking words on a page or decoding phonetic sounds.
There are many ways to educate your children effectively, but when we take the time to know them and to make decisions according to what will best meet their needs, we will have a happier and more connected educational experience.
Do you need help creating a peaceful home atmosphere to homeschool in? We will be talking more about it in future posts , but The Peaceful Loop is a great resource for helping you develop a peaceful rhythm.
We are working on basic habits of morning prayer, read aloud, and chore chart follow through.
Each week you get a fun new lesson to do with your preschooler or kinder students as well as access to our encouraging private group. We've been working through the book, Habits of the Household together which is an excellent resource for developing basic good habits. As we work together on these habits we are creating healthy rhythms for a happy, holy home.
It will be easy for you to add in the homeschool work if you have these basic rhythms in place, so join today and have your best school year ever!